"....it's Martin's yuletide tunes making me happiest."

Hey pallies, just so so stellar to find more and more pallies openly declarin' there Dinopassion in Dinoprint....today's Dinodiscovery is a lady tagged Pat Clark, Scene Editor for the Modesto Bee, sharin' with the world her crush on our Dino and her lovin' of our great man's way of singin' Dinowintertunes. I have printed the portion of Miss Clark's column that is Dinofocused, but likes it you wanna read the whole column, likes just clicks on the tagg of this Dinogram. As we move ever forward to Dinowinterday, so so great to find others who know that truly only our Dino matters..... Dinosharin', DMP



OK, enough grousing. It's Christmas and there are more important things to talk about.

Like my posthumous crush on Dean Martin, of course.

Gee, that almost seems creepy, huh?

But it's really not. Sure, Dino's been gone a long while now. Plus, if he still were with us, he'd be old enough to be my grandpa.

OK, kind of creepy.

Still, none of that takes away from the fact that his croon-alicious Christmas songs were then, are now and forever will be the catchiest, the kickiest seasonal tunes to be found.

I've been toodling about in my car, bebopping with jazz hands all season thanks to the holiday stations on ye olde satellite radio. I'm completely charmed by the '60s-era tunes crooned by Martin.

I can picture him, cigarette between his fingers, sitting on that big piano on the set of his 1960s television show, handsome, smiling, singing and looking almost unbearably suave.

Look up "suave" in the dictionary and we all know who's picture we'll find there.

Of course, cigarettes hardly are suave these days, but in the '60s, they were cool, cats. It's a sad note that he ultimately contracted lung cancer and died on Christmas Day 1995.

Somehow, Dean Martin and Christmas songs go together like, well, Perry Como and Christmas songs. Or Andy Williams and Christmas songs. This year, it's Martin's yuletide tunes making me happiest.

I don't even think "Baby It's Cold Outside" references Christmas in its lyrics, but it's all about the winter's cold and it's played often on the holiday stations. Maybe you've heard it: Dino and some unidentified female -- whose credit on the song seemingly fell victim to 1960s sexism -- sing a back- and-forth duet, sparring over whether said female will head home on a cold winter's night or stay at his place for another, um, drink.

"My mother will start to worry (Beautiful, what's your hurry?)/My father will be pacing the floor (Listen to the fireplace roar)/So, really, I'd better scurry (Beautiful, please don't hurry)/but maybe just a half a drink more (Put some records on while I pour)."

It's utterly adorable and you can hear the smile in Martin's voice as he sings. Who wouldn't have a crush?

There's just nothing like an old Christmas standard sung by an old standard to make sure the warm fuzzies stay in your holiday.

Reach Scene editor Pat Clark at pclark@modbee.com.